Ralph Hall getting more help from Texas GOP colleagues

Rep. Ralph Hall is getting help from his congressional friends and a top social conservative group as he tries to fend off challenger John Ratcliffe.

Republican Reps. Joe Barton, Michael Burgess, Kay Granger, Jeb Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Kenny Marchant, Pete Sessions and Roger Williams are listed as participants in a fundraiser next week for Hall, R-Rockwall, at the Park City Club in Dallas.

The event Tuesday is hosted by former Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones and former Fort Worth Rep. Pete Geren. Tickets for the event range from $250 to $5,200.

On Thursday, the Family Research Council Action PAC threw its support behind Hall. In a statement released by the campaign, the group said to Hall that “the votes you have cast on the life issue reflect your concern for mother and child and your support for marriage as between one man and one woman is strongly supported by the majority of Americans.”

The group opposes gay marriage and abortion.

Hall also announced support from South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, who called the congressional veteran “a friend, a fellow patriot and a man of integrity.” Gowdy, who endorsed Hall on Wednesday, is a popular figure among tea party activists.

The announcements come just as the campaigns released the latest round of fundraising numbers. Hall ended March with more cash on hand than Ratcliffe, but Ratcliffe spent more money and received more from individual donors during the six-week filing period. Last week, high-profile Texas congressional Republicans raised an estimated $50,000 for Hall at a Washington event.

After 33 years in the House, this may be Hall’s toughest challenge yet. While he earned 45 percent of the primary vote in March, that wasn’t enough to stave off a runoff from Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney who is trying to persuade voters to usher in a new representative.

Hall represents the 4th Congressional District, which covers much of northeast Texas.

Staff writers Gromer Jeffers Jr. in Dallas and Ben Kamisar in Washington contributed to this report.

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